Wars of the Heart
by Litanya
Summary: AU WW1 fic. Starts off Sorato ends Taiora. World War 1 has been announced and Tai disappears off to fight in Matt's place. When he does not come back, what will the others do? Based on the ANZAC Lagend, but not a true account of the battle... Takari, Mimo
1. Default Chapter

Litanya: I got this idea from Final Fantasy X-2… the best game in the world. There's a song that Yuna sings in it that is REALLY beautiful. I love it! I've been playing it over and over… anyway, this fic is a Taiora (naturally!) and a Mimoe with a little bit of Takari, and Junato thrown in there too.

**_PLOT_****: **It's set in another world… a parallel universe to our own. That means that the technology is different to our world at this time. The schooling and sports is the same as it is today, but the technology in communication and weaponry is the same as it was in WW1. Transport is also the same as it was back then. And… you'll see!

I have based it off the ANZACs landing at Gallipoli, but the dates are probably wrong because I'm not too sure of them. So… yeah and the ages are different… very different to in the show.

Digimon does not belong to me because if it did, it would be a definite Taiora and Takari and Kenyako (even though it is now) and probably Mimoe and Junato. But it's not… it's Sorato and yeah. So it obviously does not belong to me, so don't sue!

Ages:

Tai, Sora: 16

Matt, Jun: 18

Joe, Izzy, Mimi: 17

T.K, Kari: 13

**_Wars of the Heart_**

He carefully paced out the length of the soccer pitch and placed another cone at the corner. It was his job as coach to make sure that the pitch was set up for the young kids to play. Sora, his best friend, was pacing out the other side.

"Sora, about here, don't you think?" he trusted her opinion, especially when it came to soccer. She had been on his team when he had started playing, unusual as there weren't many girls that played soccer. Most girls played tennis or did ballet, but Sora had played soccer. But that was when they were younger. Sora now had joined most of the girls at their school by playing tennis. She still came and helped him out by helping set up the pitch for his under 8s team.

"Yeah, that's about right," she dropped the cone at her corner and then jogged over to where he was surveying the pitch. She couldn't help but notice that he was looking a bit serious, "Come on Tai, lighten up already! The pitch is fine." He grinned.

"Yeah, I know it is. Do you want to play before the match?" he offered; his whole face lighting up at the prospect of a game with Sora. She looked at her watch and then shook her head slowly.

"No, I can't, sorry. I've got a date with Matt in two hours and if I play soccer then I won't be ready in time," she had almost forgotten about her date. 18 year old Matt Ishida was her boyfriend, a blond musician who was two years older than her. Tai just shrugged, and his grin turned into a smirk.

"Ah, little Sora has a boyfriend, how cute. Have the two of you moved out of the sandbox yet, or are you still building your sand castles?" he teased, before he too looked at his watch, whilst Sora turned red, "How would you like an escort home? I've got nothing better to do until the game starts and that's in an hour." Sora looked at the ground to make sure that her blush disappeared before she replied.

"Yep, sure. I mean, my best friend is so _mature_ and everything, so I'm sure that I'll be safe with him around," she told him sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "I'm sure that whenever he gets a girlfriend she'll be _so_ lucky." She was being sarcastic, and she missed the look of hurt that flashed in Tai's eyes. He shook it off quickly though.

"Well, since you want my escort so badly, I'll race you there!" and he took off without giving her a chance to reply.

"Hey, wait up. You're cheating!" but he didn't stop, not until he reached the electronics shop, where they sold the radios. There was a news broadcast coming from a radio that the storekeeper had placed on a table outside. A small crowd had gathered around it, anxious looks on their faces. Tai joined the group quietly, wondering what was going on.

_"…__Britain__ has declared war on __Germany__ as they refuse to stop attacking __Serbia__. As __Britain__ is at war, this most definitely means that as a part of the __British Empire__, __Australia__ is at war with __Germany__ and her ally, __Austria-Hungary__. You can sign up to join the fight for our empire at your nearest community centre. Only males over the age of 18 may apply to fight and females over the age of 18 to be nurses. If you want to help your country, go and sign up now…"_  The shopkeeper turned the radio off at this announcement.

"Well, you heard the announcement. We're at war. We have to put all of our effort into it. We'll send our sons to war and they'll return heroes!" he announced, "And our daughters to be nurses and we will beat the Germans back!" Tai watched the scene with a sense of dread rising in his stomach as more and more people began to chatter excitedly about the heroism of war.

"You'll be able to go to war son, and fight for your country," a young woman told him excitedly, "You'll be a hero!" Tai grinned, but shook his head.

"I'm too young to go to war. You have to be eighteen and I'm only sixteen," the young woman shrugged apologetically.

"I'm sorry; you just look like you are old enough. Well, the war will be over before you can join, but still if you study hard at school who knows what could happen?" the young woman left, probably to tell some other male about the glory they could gain by going to war.

"What's going on Tai? The whole city is practically going hay-wire. All people can seem to do is talk excitedly to each other across the street. Most of the male population of the city is heading down to the community centre, and most of them are bringing their girlfriends and wives too. What's going on?" Sora had obviously missed the announcement.

"We're at war against the Germans. Everyone over the age of eighteen is probably flocking down to apply. They want to come back as heroes," Tai's tone was a little wistful, as though he wished that he could go with them. But then he thought about it for a second and realised that everything he wanted was right there, so there was no need to go and fight.

"They shouldn't fight. People can die, even if we think we're going to win, people will still die. And what about the other side? If you fight you'd have to kill people who probably joined up for the same reasons as you did; to fight for their country. They were probably as innocent as you, but they would die just because their governments have something against ours. War is stupid," Sora was looking at some point far away, seemingly in her own world. Tai had to admit that Sora's words expressed exactly what he had been thinking, but he didn't want to dwell on it for too long.

"Come on, we'd better get you home. Don't you have a date to get ready for?" Sora smiled, her attention snapping back to the present.

"Sure, don't want to keep Matt waiting!" and she began to run, with Tai cursing her as he chased her down the streets of their town to her house.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_One Week Later_

"What do you mean that you've signed up for war?" to say that Sora was angry would have been an understatement. She was _furious_, "You could get killed! And you would have to kill others and you'll be away from here for so long… what if you don't come back?" Matt looked at the ground. He had been too caught up in the heroism of the whole thing that he had forgotten that there was a bad side to war. History had shown, a very long time ago, that wars did not solve problems. That had been why research into weapons had been stopped. But then all of these problems between the European powers had come out and research had begun again, and the past wars had been forgotten by many as they rushed to sign up. Thoughts of glory had blinded them.

"I'm sorry Sora but I can't take my name off the list. I have to go now… I leave tomorrow," he mumbled, still too afraid to look at her. He had told Tai when he'd signed up that he was leaving, but he had never gotten the courage to tell Sora until now. Tai and his younger sister Kari watched the scene, knowing how angry and upset Sora was going to be. They knew that they had to be careful around her when she was this angry.

"B-but what if you don't come back?" Sora felt deeply about the war. She _knew_ that something bad was going to happen, that if Matt left he wouldn't come back. And if he didn't she had no idea what she would do. Tai, on the other hand, was watching this scene with a struggle going on within himself. He had been having this struggle since Matt had told him that he'd signed up a week ago. Tai loved Sora with all his heart, and to see her about to burst into tears was almost too much for him. He knew that if Matt left Sora would be miserable and would never cheer up until Matt came back, if he ever did. That would break Tai's heart even more than it was already breaking, as he watched Matt and Sora together.

"I'll come back, I promise you," Matt whispered before turning and leaving the room. It was too hard for him to watch Sora's heart break. As Matt left, tears began to roll down the auburn-haired girl's face. Tai made his decision. There was nothing else he could do.

"Save your tears Sora, he'll come back," Tai told her softly and he too, turned and left. He watched Matt walk away before he turned and quickly ran home. He had a lot of planning to do.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Tai walked down the corridor of the apartment building he knew well, looking for the familiar door that led to Matt's apartment. It was early the next morning and Matt's ship was due to leave in two hours. Once he reached the door to Matt's place, he opened it, as he had done many times in his lifetime.

"Tai, what are you doing here?" Matt asked the brunette, surprise evident in his expression. Tai looked him levelly in the eye.

"I'll take your place," Matt's left eyebrow went up in confusion.

"What?" Tai's gaze didn't change. It was almost as if he had drained himself of all emotion.

"I'll go in your place. I'll take your place on the ship and you can stay here. Sora needs you here Matt and you don't really want to go anyway. I want to go and fight and no one here really needs me. I'll go to war and you stay here. It's as simple as that," Matt continued to stare at the younger boy, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I can't let you do that Tai, you're too young."

"And you are too. You are too young to die just as I am. What difference does two years make? Anyway, you're more likely to be injured or killed if you _don't_ want to fight than if you do. People need you here. Sora needs you, and so does T.K. Your younger brother doesn't have anyone else in your family he can talk to," Matt shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking deeply about the situation.

"What about your sister? Kari needs you here just as much as T.K needs me," Tai pulled a small bundle of letters out of his pocket.

"Kari isn't as dependant on me as you would think. Here, these are letters that I want you to give Kari. She'll understand what I mean, eventually. She'll be upset at first, but then she'll come to her senses. Please Matt, let me go," Tai pleaded, hoping that Matt didn't notice how he was shaking. Matt didn't. He turned and picked up a photo frame. The photo inside was of Sora and himself, with T.K, Kari and Tai pulling faces in the background. How the three of them had managed to sneak in the picture had surprised both Sora and Matt, but the trio had managed to do it somehow. It was hard for him to imagine life away from this city, where he had lived all of his life. War would be exciting, but he knew that people here depended on him. Still… Tai was too young to go, only sixteen. He turned back to the brunette to see that he was still holding out the letters, a determined look on his tanned face.

"Tai… I don't know. I know I'm needed here, but I'm sure you are too. You're too young to go," the younger boy did not move.

"Matt, you _know_ that you are needed here, and that you cannot get out of going, unless I go instead of you. I know I'm too young for the age group, but if you go I'll just fake another identity and I'll end up going too. Because I _want_ to go. You don't. That means that both of us will be gone and who will look after Sora and the others? Even if I don't go in your place I _will_ go. So you might as well let me take your place because if not, no one will be here to help the others," Tai's voice was as hard as steel and Matt had to admit that he had a good point. Or at least it seemed that he did. The blond sighed, once again running his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what was right.

"I don't know Tai…"

"You have to let me go. Please Matt, I have to do this!" Matt had to give up. The desperation in Tai's voice was just too much for him to say no. Something was driving the brunette teenager to go to war more desperately than Matt's excuses could stop. Matt didn't want to go to war anyway, and Tai was offering him a way out, with good arguments. What else could he do?

"Alright Tai, you can go in my place," Tai silently thanked the heavens. He didn't want to go to war, but anything was better than having to see Sora cry. He grinned at Matt, keeping up his confident act. He gestured to the letters that his left hand still held out. Matt took them slowly, still wondering if he had made the right choice.

"Thank you Matt. Please make sure that my sister gets these. Please don't go and see her or Sora until after the ship has left. I know for certain that they both weren't coming to see you leave; they don't agree with it. Thank you again."

"Just make sure that you come back Tai. For your sister's sake, and Sora's too. You're her best friend remember, and she's going to miss you. Just come back in one piece and as soon as you can," Matt didn't really know what to say. He knew that there was some other reason that Tai wanted to swap places other than that he wanted to go to war, but he didn't say anything. Tai was his friend and he cared what happened to the younger boy, but he couldn't help but give in and let him go.

"I'll come back, I promise that I will. And my promise is stronger than anything else in this world. I will come back," but Matt could tell that the words were not as certain as Tai had wanted them to be. There was nothing else left to be said and Tai was starting to feel uncomfortable, "I'll see you then Matt. Goodbye." And without waiting for a reply he left, knowing that he didn't have much time before the ship was due to leave. Matt watched him go, a deep guilt already starting to settle in his stomach.

"Goodbye Tai and good luck. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

"He did what?" the cry echoed loudly through the Kamiya's apartment and Matt cringed, the guilt still building up in his stomach. Kari stood in front of him, shaking with what Matt sensed was anger and fear. He had just told the young teenager that her brother had gone to war and as expected, she had not taken it very well.

"He basically begged me to let him go in my place and I couldn't say no after all of the points he brought up. He gave this to me to give to you," he pulled the bundle of letters out of his pocket and handed them to her. Her hand was shaking so much that she almost dropped them. She was scared for her brother, extremely scared. She had found a book buried at the back of the library full of tales of the last war that had happened about 30 000 years ago. She had not liked what she had read.

"He is so going to pay when he gets back!" she threatened, but there was no anger left in her voice. Instead she burst into tears, knowing that the next time she saw her brother could be years in the future.

"I'll be going now, I need to go and talk to Sora and tell her the news. I'll come back later," Matt quietly left, leaving the girl to her sorrow. He didn't know what to do, but Tai would have known exactly what to say in this sort of situation to calm her down. After Matt had left, Kari managed to reduce her tears enough to let her open the first letter addressed to her.

_Dear Kari,_

_I know that you are probably crying now, having heard from Matt that I have gone to war in his place. Please, I don't want you to cry. You know that I hate it when you do, so please, dry your tears for me. I had to go to war. Now stop whispering that I did not need to go and Matt would have been fine if he'd gone. Think about it carefully. I know that you would be fine without me as you have Sora to talk to. She's like a sister to you, but what about T.K? He has no one but Matt. Don't say that he could talk to me because you know how scared he is of me. It's not my fault that he took my threats seriously. And then there's Sora. I'm her best friend, but Matt is her boyfriend. The guy that she loves. That means that she should have him around. Don't say that it's not true, because it is. People need to be with the ones they love more than their best friends. Would you rather be with T.K or Melissa? Yes, I thought that you would answer T.K. And don't go changing what you would usually answer just to make it seem like Sora would need me more than Matt in this situation. It won't work. Matt will be able to keep Sora happy and I… I can fight in this war that is raging on. Who knows, maybe I'll find the right girl for me whilst I'm on this big adventure. Or… maybe I will just realise how much friends and family are really worth to me. Kari, I know that you are going to be mad at me, but please forgive me for leaving like this. I have a separate letter here for mum and dad. I hope that they are not too angry at me as well. I just want you to know that I have been thinking about doing this for the past week, since Matt told me he had joined up. But I think that it is best for everyone if I go instead of Matt because he is needed more. I know that you're worried, but please… please forgive me. I'll write every chance I can._

_There is a letter for Sora also in this pile, but please only give it to her if you haven't heard from me in a long, long time after the war has ended. I… I must go now. I love you Kari, you're the best sister I could ever have asked for. I just hope that I come home as safely as I have left. Thank you for everything Kari,_

_Love your brother Tai_

Kari wiped her eyes again as they came close to overflowing. She had stopped herself from crying whilst she read the letter, but now it was just too much. To distract herself she sorted the letters in the bundle out. There was one for her parents, one for Sora and one for T.K, probably threatening him to stay away from her whilst Tai was gone. Sighing she decided to go over to Sora's to see how the older girl was taking the news of her best friend's flight.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Sora knew that something was not right, but she just shrugged it off. She thought that it was just because Matt had left. His ship had been due to leave at 8:30am, and now it was 11. She hadn't gone to see him off at the ship; she felt that she didn't have the strength. She felt that seeing him off at the ship would almost make it seem that she supported him going to war. And she didn't want to give him that impression. She was just staring into air, thinking about her boyfriend's departure when there was a knock on the door. It was a hesitant knock, as though the person didn't really want to be there. Curious, she stood up and walked to the door, before peering through the peep hole. It was Matt.

_'But Matt left on the ship to go to war… right?'_ she thought to herself as she opened the door, not trusting her eyes.

"Sora," Matt enveloped her in a hug as soon as he could reach her through the door. She was a little surprised, but she welcomed it warmly.

"Matt, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to war," he bit his lip and looked at the ground and she eyed him suspiciously, "Something is wrong, isn't it? You didn't go to war, so how did you get out of it if you weren't allowed?" She was anxious about his answer. For some reason she couldn't fathom, she wasn't all that happy that he was still there. It was like with him being there, someone else was missing… come to think of it she hadn't seen Tai since he had left their little meeting the day before. The sinking feeling in her stomach rose.

"According to the authorities, I did go to war. But as you can see, it wasn't me that went. Someone took my place… Tai took my place. He pleaded with me until I gave in to let him go," it was her turn now to bite her lip. She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears, but she shook them out angrily.

"Why on Earth would that idiot beg you to go to war? We could have found another way to get you out of it, but no, he had to go instead. He's an idiot! Well, if he wants it that way, he can have it. If he gets killed it's his own fault," she didn't know what she was saying, she was so upset. Tai had been her best friend since they were three years old, according to her mother. He was the person outside of her mother that she had known the longest, the person that had helped her out at her mother's flower shop when they were younger. He was her best friend and now he had abandoned her so that he could fight in a stupid war. How could he be so dumb?

"Sora, I could tell that there was more to it than that. Yes, it's true that he told me that he wanted to go to war, but who knows if that is the truth? I could tell that there was another reason, and that reason made him desperate enough to _beg_ me to let him go. He begged me. How could I say no when he countered my every argument? He told me that he would come even if he didn't go in my place. He asked me which one I'd rather have, both of us going or only one of us. You can't get angry at him and hate him forever. He's been your best friend for forever and you know that he has to have had a good reason for this," he was just trying to rationalize it to try and make sense of it for himself. He was justifying it, as if by doing so it would make it seem better. Sora was silent for a second before she pulled away from him and picked up a book, aimlessly turning the pages.

"Does Kari know yet?" and the pages were whirring, turning over and over, getting quicker as time went on. She didn't know what made her play with the book, until she read the cover. It was a book that Tai had given her for her last birthday. It was a book on the different star signs and how they were supposed to affect your lives. She had found it interesting and now, as she was flipping through the pages, she realised that she was trying to find her star sign, looking for anything which may tell her what was going to happen.

"Yes, I told her before coming here. Tai had given me letters to give to her," there was an uncomfortable silence as Sora continued her search through the book and Matt waited for her to say something. In the end he couldn't bear it, "He'd been planning this since he had found out that I was going, I could tell that he was. They say that the war will be over by Christmas, it won't go on for long and then Tai will be back and he'll be fine. He promised me that he would come back perfectly fine." He didn't want to tell her that Tai had been unconfident about that. She knew as well as he did, if not better, that Tai was one of the most confident people in the world. If Tai wasn't certain of something that meant that it was possible that the outcome would be bad. Sora finally found the page that she was looking for. She read it eagerly, but she found nothing that would help her find the answers she sought. It seemed that the stars were not going to help her.

"Did he have any letters to give to me?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment from the lack of answers. Matt shook his head, wondering what she had been looking in the book for. He knew that it was the book that Tai had given her just last month for her birthday, but that didn't tell him why she had been searching through it so desperately.

"Not unless they were in the bundle that he gave to Kari. I think that he…" he was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Kari walked in, still holding the letter her brother had written to her. She couldn't bring herself to put it down, in case that was the last thing he ever 'said' to her.

"Hi guys," she said quietly and she came and sat down on one of the chairs scattered around the room. Sora's place was like a second home to Kari and she knew that she was welcome there at any time. Sora smiled weakly and came to sit next to the young girl, knowing that Kari would be extremely miserable because Tai was gone.

"Are you okay Kari?" she whispered, seeing tears come to the younger girl's eyes. Kari nodded and wiped the tears away.

"I'm fine… I mean it's not like he's gone forever. He'll come back, I know he will. Here Sora, read this letter. It's addressed to me, but I know that he won't mind if you read it too. It-It sort of explains why he left, but not fully," she passed the letter over to Sora and the elder girl read it, her eyes quickly scanning the page. It looked like it had been written in a hurry, as though Tai had had no time. There were also some spots on the paper that made it look like Tai had been crying when he had written it. No doubt Kari had noticed them too. There were also fresh drops of water on the page, which were Kari's tears.

"Don't worry Kari, he'll come back," Sora tried to sound confident as she said that, but she only ended up sounding hopeful. She _knew_ that it was going to be a long, long time before they ever got Tai back, if he ever came back. But she was going to hope that he would; they all would. Hope was the only thing that they had left.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_Dear Kari,_

_Hi. It's been three weeks since the ship left, three weeks since I left. This letter will probably only get to you in another two or three weeks, but it doesn't matter. How are you Kari? I hope that you are well. I'm okay, doing fine in fact. We're in __Egypt__ for training. Yeah, the ship was pretty fast and it dropped us off here pretty quick. I've made a couple of friends here already. They were near me on the ship. Izzy is really smart, he's doing a first year uni course in medicine…not really. That's what he told the people in charge anyway. He's seventeen, and starting the medical course once he gets back. He still is very smart though. Joe is going to be a medical student next year too. But he's really nice even though he can complain quite a lot. The two of them keep me entertained, even though we're all technically not supposed to be here. There are a lot of good people here. The trip here was pretty boring other than meeting Joe and Izzy, but all trips are usually boring, so it's nothing new. __Egypt__ is so much different to home though. The culture, the people… it's great here, though I still think that maybe home is better, just because of the company I can keep there. But I'm glad that I've come here even if it was just to witness a different way of life. We Aussies over here… well we keep on getting comments from the British that we are too unorganized and unruly. But then again, it doesn't matter. We can do all of the things they have asked of us, so it is all alright._

_Kari, please give my love to mum and dad. I miss all of you a lot, although I wouldn't change my decision for the world. Say 'hi' to Sora and Matt and T.K for me! Love you heaps,_

_                             Tai_

She read the letter through, searching for anything that could give her a clue as to how he really was, but she found nothing. He had said nothing about fighting and he hadn't told them anything about the types of training they did. In other words, the letter was basically to tell them that he was still alive. She had to show this to Sora.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_Dear Kari,_

_Hi again. It's been another five weeks since I last wrote. I hope you have received my last letter by now. Training has increased since I last wrote, so my spare time has been a little limited. Izzy and Joe are still around and it seems that they are in my unit. That means that we'll be fighting in the same place, if we ever have to go and fight. I hope you're still doing well and I hope Sora, Matt and T.K are doing okay too. I have a letter for mum and dad here too, so I hope that they get that. Let's see, what else can I tell you? Well, nothing interesting has been happening. No fighting yet and there doesn't seem to be anything coming up. To tell you the truth I'm beginning to get a little bored. I wish I was coaching the under 8s team, that's much more interesting. __Egypt__ is still cool though. Anyway, I have to go. Give my love to everyone,_

_Love_

_Tai_

The letters were getting shorter, as if something was distracting him. Sora was worried. Kari had let her read every letter that Tai had sent, but he had only sent two so far. They didn't tell them anything other than that Tai was still alive. If only they said more! She could tell that things at the training camp would be worse than what he had been saying, but he hadn't really described what was going on. She wished that she knew. Matt on the other hand, was feeling especially guilty. He felt that he was to blame for letting Tai go. Sure, Tai sounded like he was having an okay time, but what if he was lying? With Tai you always had to look him straight in the eye to get the correct answer because he hated to make people upset. Tai was keeping the details out of his letters probably because he thought that they would upset people, but in fact he was upsetting them by not including the details. It was very confusing.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_Dear Kari,_

_Almost half a year has passed us by since I left and the only communication I have to you and the people back home are these letters. Tomorrow's my seventeenth birthday, and soon after that I finish my training. Only a week in fact. But I can't tell you where I'm going, because I don't even know. This is only a short letter to tell you all that I love you and I miss you. Please forgive me for going away so quickly and basically without warning. Anyway, I really have to go; training starts in a few minutes._

_Love Tai_

This was it. The last letter she had received from her brother. She hadn't heard from him for over two months. _Five months._ That was too long to even bear. She could hear their parents sit up late talking and crying, hoping that Tai's next letter would come the next day. But it never did. It was almost as if he had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Matt had gone off to war, and he wrote regularly. It turned out that Matt was placed in Egypt, fighting the German forces there. From the sounds of it though, he was doing fine.

"Kari, did you get another letter?" Sora came up behind her and looked at the paper she was holding before sighing in disappointment.

"Don't worry Sora; I'm sure that he'll write soon. Maybe the postal people are too caught up in the war to put the letters on the ship," she was clutching at straws and they both knew it. Tai had said that he was going to fight one week after his seventeenth birthday. That had been on the eighteenth of April. On the radio on the 25th of that month there had been an announcement. ANZAC forces had landed at Gallipoli. Hardly anything had been said about it, but every time the name of the place was mentioned, both Sora and Kari had a terrible feeling. They knew that Tai had fought there.

"That stupid idiot had better be okay. He had no right to leave thinking that I would prefer to have Matt here," Sora and Matt had broken up. In Matt's first letter home he had confessed that he had met another girl on the ship. The girl's name was Jun and she was going to be a nurse. She was going to the island of Imbros, where there was a hospital to treat the wounded. Matt had fallen in love with her and so he had written back to Sora straight away to tell her. To Kari's surprise the older girl hadn't really cared all that much at the news.

"Why Sora, would you need Tai here more than Matt? Could it be that you are actually _in love_ with the goofy monkey that I call my brother?" Kari teased. Sora blushed a little, but Kari didn't see it as she was behind her.

"Hey, you can't talk. I saw you and a certain blond haired boy yesterday in the park… I didn't know that you could hold your breath for more than ten seconds," it was Kari's turn to look like a tomato.

"Hey!"

"I think that when Tai gets back he's going to go T.K hunting again," the mood suddenly dimmed. She kicked herself for bringing him up again. It didn't do any good to sit there and dwell on it. He was coming back when he was coming back. She had to believe that he would be back because she didn't know what she would do if she didn't. She must have been blind not to have seen it before he had left. Sora Takenouchi was absolutely, totally head-over-heels in love with Taichi Kamiya. And now she could never tell him.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

It had now been one year, five months since they had last received a letter from Tai. They were beginning to lose hope. The war had ended half a year ago and Matt was back in town again. He hadn't been injured, and he had fought bravely. He had brought Jun back with him and her family had written to say that they had permission to marry. It seemed that everything was turning back from the devastating effects of war to the happier celebrations of marriage and ceremonies. The world was getting back on track, but to Sora and Kari and even Matt to an extent, the world just was not complete. Tai wasn't there and from the sounds of it, he wasn't coming back.

"Sora," it was Kari. The two girls had been spending most of their time together lately, each understanding that they were both hurt and why. Many people understood why they were upset, but they didn't know exactly why. Nobody had known Tai like they had.

"Hey Kari, how are you?" Sora turned to find that Kari was holding out a letter and biting her lip to keep from crying.

"In Tai's first letter he told me to give this to you if we hadn't heard from him in a long, long time after the war had ended," she handed the letter to Sora before turning and leaving. She knew that Sora would want to be alone for this. Sora herself turned the letter over in her hands, unable to bring herself to read it.

"Tai is coming back, he's just been delayed and he doesn't want to spoil the surprise," she muttered to herself over and over, before she realised that she didn't believe the words anymore. She knew that the chances of him having survived fighting at Gallipoli were slim, especially as he hadn't written for more than a year. She had secretly accepted that he was gone. She tore open the envelope slowly, knowing that she was going to cry at the contents of the letter. No matter what it said, she knew she would cry. She unfolded the paper and gasped at how many wet spots there were on that single piece of paper. Tai had been crying when he had written it.

_Dear Sora,_

_If you're reading this, then that means that I haven't written for a long time and the war is over. It could mean that I am dead, or that I have been badly injured. I know, I shouldn't say that, but it's true. Those are possibilities. I hope that both you and Kari are coping with this. I know that you'd have been worried sick for the first few weeks that I hadn't written, and then you would have unconsciously begun to accept it. What I'm saying now is probably just common sense. Anyway, let's get off that subject. I want to tell you why I went to war, the real reason._

_When I heard that Matt was going to war, my thoughts immediately went to you. I knew that you would be upset and that you'd possibly cry and then you would be upset the whole time that he was gone. I also knew that he didn't want to fight in the war and that you hated wars. I-I knew that I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you upset for that long. I live to see that you are happy and I'd happily die in Matt's place if it meant that you would be happier. Yeah, if you have smiled even once since I have been gone, then it has been worth it because I know that you wouldn't have if Matt had gone._

_And if you haven't worked it out yet, I'm trying to say…… I love you and I always have. I hope that you forgive me for going to war. Please, forget about me and continue with your life. I'll be your best friend forever, but I doubt that I'll be able to talk to you, because if I haven't written, I'm sorry but I must be dead. Please forgive me,_

_I'll love you always,_

_Your best friend,_

_Taichi Kamiya_

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Litanya: Okay, I want to write the song that I got this idea from. It belongs to Final Fantasy X-2 and not to me, okay? Here's the song:

_I know that you're hiding things_

_Using gentle words to shelter me_

_Your words were like a dream;_

_But dreams could never fool me_

_Not that easily…_

_I acted so distant then_

_Didn't say goodbye before you left;_

_But I was listening_

_You'll fight your battles Far from me_

_Far too easily…_

_Save your tears 'cause I'll come back_

_I could hear that you whispered_

_ As you walked through that door_

_But still I swore to hide the pain_

_As I turn back the pages_

_Shouting may have been the answer_

_What if I'd cried my eyes out_

_And begged you not to depart?_

_But now I'm not afraid_

_To say what's in my heart…_

_'Cause a thousand words_

_Call out through the ages_

_They'll fly to you_

_Even though I can't see_

_I know they're reaching you_

_Suspended on silver wings…_

The song goes on, but this part inspired me the most. If you want me to write a sequel, maybe a happy ending, please review and I'll think about it. I already have an idea for it. This fic was a bit vague, but I think that it works better with no details during the part where Tai is actually gone. I don't know why. I tried writing it with descriptions and dialogue between Kari and Sora, but I just thought that it didn't sound right. Anyway, please R+R and I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Journals and Piano Lessons

Litanya: Digimon does not belong to me and it never will. This is NOT a historical account of Gallipoli. It is in an Alternative Universe and so the things that Tai says are NOT facts about the real Gallipoli. I cannot stress that enough.

**_Wars of the Heart_**

****

**_Chapter 2: Journals and Piano Lessons_**

_Dear Journal,_

_It's the first day of my journey. I'm on the ship, on my way to war. I'm writing this so that if anything happens, someone will send this back to my sister and she can read this. I don't know if that'll comfort her, but she has a right to know, I guess. I'm missing her already and I haven't even been away for a day. I just know that something is going to happen and I'm not going to see her for a long time as a result. War is not a good thing, or something that can be taken lightly. If it wasn't for Matt I wouldn't even be here. Stupid Matt. But someone had to stop him from going and save Sora from heartbreak. Gosh, what an idiot I am. But I've made a few friends here already. Joe and Izzy are both seventeen and they have known each other for a long time. When I asked them why they joined up for the war, they told me that they wanted to travel, but they knew that ordinarily their parents would not let them. I think that Joe's dad was also pushing for Joe to go, but I'm not too sure. And Izzy has not said anything about his parents. Anyway, so far that is all that has happened to me, so there is no use in writing more._

He laughed a little bitterly and turned the page, wanting to know what had happened next. It was Tai's journal. Someone had found it and had brought it back to Kari. T.K was only reading it because he missed the older Kamiya brother. Tai's threats had been fun to dodge and the teenager really missed him. Everyone did. Even his old under 8s team remembered their former coach with grief over his death. Sora had taken on the duty of coaching the team, but it wasn't the same. Sure, Sora knew the game inside and out as well as Tai did, but he had coached them a certain way, and as much as Sora tried, she knew that she could never fill his place. T.K stopped his wandering thoughts and turned back to the book in front of him. Kari had warned him that it was short, but he didn't expect it to end on the third page.

_Dear Journal,_

_This is the second time that I have written here, but I have been away for… just under half a year. It was my birthday last week, but… it wasn't all that good. The people here celebrated my eighteenth birthday, but it is only my seventeenth. They just haven't picked up that I'm lying yet. We landed at Gallipoli today. God… we landed here. I bet that coming here made everyone change their minds about war. Now everyone still alive knows that it is the most terrible thing that anyone could witness. Sure, the training was easy and everything, but actually fighting is a different story._

_We had to come ashore in little boats. That part was okay… well, using the boats was fine. But the landing was a disaster. They seemed to know that we were coming. The Turks knew that we were coming. And the place where we were landing was next to a big hill. They hid there. They could see when we were coming, but we could not see them. They definitely had the advantage. The British with us ended up in the most trouble. They were all too disciplined to scatter their attacks. We Aussies, we just ran, fighting those we needed to. … Many good people died today. We tried to save all of those we could, but in many cases it was in vain. Trying to save someone whilst you are dodging a volley of bullets is hard work. We also try to save as many of the 'other side' as we can. We figure that there is nothing wrong with them other than the fact that their government hates ours. Not very much of a big deal if you ask me. They just probably want to save their families._

_I don't really want to go into much detail about today. It wasn't really a very nice day that I'll ever _want_ to remember. I just hope that tomorrow it won't be as bad…_

The journal ended at that point. There was nothing else in the whole book. Obviously Tai wasn't all that keen on keeping that journal, otherwise he would have written everyday. All this gave them was that he had still been alive on the 25th of April. He must have died after that then. The person, or people rather, that had sent it back to Kari had been two young adults. They had come to the Kamiya's apartment; one limping rather badly and another on crutches…

** F L A S H B A C K **

**T.K and Kari were listening to the radio in the Kamiya's apartment, with Sora cleaning the kitchen. She had said that she was bored with nothing to do. Kari had told her to listen to the radio with them, but she hadn't. Ever since she had read Tai's letter, Sora had not been able to sit still, so she had offered to clean the kitchen. Kari had not been able to stop her. As Sora was drying the last plate there was a knock on the door. Kari jumped up to get it, curious as to who could be calling. She wasn't expecting anyone and the postman usually just put the mail through the slot.**

**"Hello, how may I help you?" there were two young men standing outside of the door. One of them had short, spiky brown hair and brown eyes. He had a tanned complexion and he was standing in a way that suggested that his left leg was injured. His companion had long indigo-blue hair that hung down to his shoulders and crystal clear blue eyes. He was on crutches, one of his legs hanging motionless. Kari could tell from the haunted look in their eyes that they had been to war.**

**"My name is ****Davis**** Motimya and this is Ken Ichijouji. Is your name Kari Kamiya by any chance?" it was the one without the crutches that had spoken. Kari was a little taken aback at his question. She had just assumed that they had gotten the wrong door when she had seen them. Now it appeared that they were looking for her.**

**"Yes, that is me. Would you like to come in?" the two soldiers nodded and thanked her as they walked into the living room. T.K had switched off the radio and Sora had hurriedly put the plate down. They both came around to where the guests were standing.**

**"We should probably explain why we are here," the boy who had been introduced as Ken said, not seeming to notice that his leg was just hanging a little above the ground. Kari motioned for them to sit. Sora, T.K and Kari were all anxious to know why the two soldiers had come to see them.**

**"We knew Tai. He was in our unit and he was basically friends with everyone. He talked about you a lot and yeah… we found this and we thought that we should give this to you," ****Davis**** pulled a small brown book from a small backpack he had slung over his left shoulder. Kari hadn't even noticed that he had had it when she had opened the door. Davis passed the book over to Kari, who took it with shaking hands.**

**"What is it?" she asked softly, not sure of what to do with it.**

**"It was Tai's journal, although he only wrote in it twice. He said that it was some sort of record that could be sent back to his family if he didn't make it back. But there wasn't really anything in ****Egypt**** for him to write about… other than the fact that it was a disappointment. He told everyone that he would write in it once we started fighting, but after the first day he didn't want to record what was happening. About a week before our unit left Gallipoli, Tai, Joe and Izzy just disappeared. No one saw where they went. The guys that were in charge of taking the wounded to the hospital barges swore that they never saw them and they didn't come back to the trenches. We all just sort of assumed that they were gone. We remembered to pick this up to give to you once we got back, but then we were sent to fight elsewhere and got injured and everything. This has been the first chance we have had to come and see you," Ken explained. Sora left the room quickly, and T.K stood up to follow her.**

**"Excuse me," he said politely before he left to go after the older girl…**

** E N D   O F   F L A S H B A C K**

He had never found out what Kari had spoken about with Ken and Davis afterwards. He guessed that she had asked things about her brother, but he wasn't entirely sure. Kari was sometimes known to ask strange questions. He had had to leave the room to follow Sora because he knew that the girl was feeling both guilty and sad. After all, Tai had gone to war because he had wanted to save Sora from being sad about the departure of her boyfriend, who had happened to be T.K's brother. That fact alone had made T.K go after Sora that day, instead if listening to what Davis and Ken had to say. Whatever the two soldiers had said however, had made Kari upset. She had refused to speak of the war or her brother ever since, and T.K knew that that was not good. She was keeping her feelings to herself and he knew that it was going to eat her up soon.

"Hey T.K, what are you up to?" Matt had come to visit his little brother to see how he was doing. Planning the wedding with Jun had been taking up much of his time and he hadn't been able to go and see T.K for a few months. T.K closed Tai's journal and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Nothing much, I just finished reading Tai's journal," Matt had seen the journal and he had read it. Kari and her family had read it first, then Sora, then Matt. T.K had put off reading it, hoping and hoping that Tai would soon be back. But he had hoped in vain. It did not seem like Tai was ever coming back.

"It's pretty short, eh. He must have hated writing in it. Maybe he just didn't want us to know what was happening. War is… horrible. It changes people, makes them realise how much people really mean to them…" Matt trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. He kept on thinking how lucky he was that Tai had gone in his place. But whenever he thought that, he felt guilty because he had let Tai die. He was confused over whether he should be thankful, or whether he should feel guilty, so he settled for both.

"Yeah, I noticed. Ever since you've been back you've been… distant would be one word to describe it. You seem to have changed, but not all that much. I still feel that I know you, but you just don't tell people things anymore," T.K explained.

"Yeah, I know. I guess that it's because I saw some pretty bad things in the war and I don't really want to share those experiences. I've also been feeling guilty… very guilty… for sending Tai off to war in my place. If I hadn't listened to him then maybe he would still be here today," for the first time Matt voiced his guilt to his brother. T.K nodded, having already figured that out.

"But Matt, if that had happened he would have signed up anyway and both of you could have been killed. It's not your fault! Tai made his choice and now the only thing that we can do is accept that he is gone," his voice cracked a little as he said this, indicating that he was almost going to cry. He hated how the war had killed so many innocent people; hated how the war had killed Tai. He just wanted everything to be back to normal, with Tai chasing him around for kissing Kari and with Matt finding places for him to hide. The war had just messed everything up, and their lives would never be 'back to normal.' Tai was a part of that 'normal' and he was gone.

"I suppose you're right T.K, but that won't ever stop this guilt. Only if Tai comes back will my conscious ever be clear. And it looks like Tai is never coming back…" he trailed off and the siblings fell into a deep silence, each one thinking about their friend…

Sora hit the notes on the piano absentmindedly, causing her teacher to glare at her.

"You'll never learn how to play the piano if you don't concentrate Sora," the middle-aged woman told her sharply, before her eyes softened a little. She had known Tai as he had always come to distract Sora from her lesson. She also knew that he had gone off to war and had never come back. Even though he had distracted their lessons, she had liked the wild-haired boy. Now he was gone and Sora still couldn't concentrate. But this time she had a reason.

"I'm sorry Ms. Cosherince, I was just thinking about how Tai used to come here and distract us with stories of his soccer games, or his little sister. I know that it has been over a year since the war ended, but… Tai was my best friend and I can't believe that he is gone," she tried to put her hands back on the keys, but they began to shake. Her teacher saw this.

"Sora, why don't we end the lesson for today? You can go take a walk in the park or something so that you can clear your head. We can continue the lesson next week, okay?" she nodded and the teacher left quietly, praying that the young adult would be all right. At the age of nineteen and a half Sora should have been looking for a husband, or at least a job, to keep her busy. But she couldn't bring herself about to do either. Tai had been her best friend since she had been… well, as long as she could remember. They had made all sorts of crazy promises back then, at the time being serious, but forgetting about them the next day. She couldn't recall not being with Tai for the period of more than a day, ever, except for when his sister was sick. Even then they had spoken over the phone… Ms. Cosherince was right; she did need a walk. She brushed her hair quickly before going out. She just needed to go out.

"Sora, over here!" she had just reached the park when Kari called her name. She was with T.K, Matt and Jun, sitting on a bench about five meters to Sora's right. It was a beautiful day with a massive expanse of blue hanging over them. The Sun was shining down brightly and a small group of children were playing chasey through the middle of the park. The group had not been able to resist going out on such a beautiful day.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she made her way towards them, having to stop a few times to let the small children race past. One of them, a small brown-haired boy, ran smack-bang into her.

"I'm weally sowy," he apologised, not yet old enough to say his rs, "But thew're older than me and I want to win." And without waiting for a response he raced off. The boy did not look anything like Tai, except for the fact that his hair was brown, but that statement reminded her of him so much that she was startled. How could a boy, who was only about four years of age, sound so much like someone who was sixteen? Then it hit her. Tai had never really grown up. He had never had a chance to grow up before he went to war. Sure, a lot of the time he may have acted mature, but there were times when that would slip, and the real Tai would shine through. He had never had a chance to grow up… maybe war had forced him to.

"Joe, are you sure you're okay with those crutches? You look like you're about to fall over."

"Shut up Tai, it's your fault that we are here in the first place. If you had come back by yourself, then Izzy, Mimi and I wouldn't have had to have accompanied you back here," the struggling blue-haired man told the younger, brown-haired leader crossly. He didn't like how much he was being teased because he couldn't control the crutches he had been given to heal the wound in his leg.

"Well, we'd probably have come anyway. We love to be nosy and look into other people's lives," Izzy disagreed, his voice floating up from his wheelchair. He had been shot in the back by a Turk and the impact had shattered the area around his sine, leaving him paralyzed from below his waist. He considered himself lucky to be alive.

"Izzy, you're not supposed to say that! You are just supposed to stay on Joe's side," Mimi sighed, hitting her left hand onto her forehead. Joe was Mimi's boyfriend. The two of them had met at the hospital on Imbros where the three injured soldiers had been sent after Gallipoli. She had been their nurse, but she had had hardly any time for them as she had other patients too. But after a while the three of them had become her only charges, as the battle had finished at Gallipoli. Tai, Izzy and Joe had been injured pretty badly and so they had needed to stay in hospital for three-quarters of a year. They had then had to go through re-habilitation, well Tai and Joe had, to make sure that they were fit to function correctly.

"It's not my fault that Joe can't stay on his crutches," Tai said, trying to sound innocent, "But maybe if you helped him Mimi he'd be just fine… Wait, why _is_ he on crutches? I thought that his leg was just fine after all that re-hab." Mimi looked confused.

"Yeah Joe, why are you still using those crutches?" the blue-haired boy just looked at her.

"You told me to use them this morning, remember?" obviously there had been a mix-up that morning. Mimi blinked.

"No, I told you to make sure you brought them along so that we could hand them back to the nearest hospital. I never said you had to use them!" Tai and Izzy were laughing at the couple so hard that Tai thought his sides would burst.

"Tai, should you be laughing this hard?" Izzy managed to gasp out in between his laughter. That caught Mimi's attention.

"Tai, if you laugh any longer now you could cause serious damage to your side again!" she told him sternly, bringing up her 'Nurse Mimi' attitude again. She had, like Izzy and Joe, signed up for the war when she was a year younger than the age limit. Because of this she had imitated the behavior of some of the older nurses and the boys had secretly called her 'Nurse Mimi' whenever she was warning them about their health and just plain Mimi when she wasn't. Whilst they had been injured they had found that extremely funny, but now it was just an affectionate nickname for the girl.

"But it's so funny watching the two of you fight like a married couple," Tai whined, forcing his laughter to stop. He did not want to have to go to hospital again because of his side. He had been shot twice in the battle that had injured him and his friends; once in his right shoulder and once in his right side. The bullet that hit him in the shoulder had torn all of the ligaments and muscles in his arm, leaving it basically useless for the time being. It would eventually get better, but for some reason the ligaments were taking an extremely long time to heal and he could barely move his arm at all. The shot in his side had also caused him a lot of problems. He had had to have his appendix taken out as the bullet had shot through it, and he had been unable to move for a few weeks due to the pain and doctor's instructions to lie still. He did not want a repeat of that.

"Hey, where are we anyway?" Joe asked, changing the subject so that another argument would not arise. They were in a park of some sort it seemed and the sky above them was bright blue. The temperature was nice about 33 degrees Celsius and many children were playing a game of chasey, swerving through the center of the park.

"We're in Odaiba Central Park. My home is not too far from here," Tai replied casually, "I thought that you guys were from around here. You must know this park."

"We know the other side of it Tai. We lived on the other side of the city to you, remember?" Izzy sauntered along in his wheelchair, watching as a little boy got tagged 'it'. He had loved to play chasey when he was young, and he had always come to this park with Joe to play it.

"I've never been here before. I'm from a very small town called Panton Hill," Mimi commented, "It's about half an hour from here. I've only been to Odaiba about once or twice, but I never came to the park." They continued to chatter about things that they remembered about Odaiba when they saw a small group of people, aged from around twenty one to sixteen sitting together on and around a small bench. Joe, Izzy and Mimi continued looking around, they did not recognise the group, but Tai's eyes stopped once they had seen it.

"Hey guys, can we go over there?" he motioned towards the people around the bench and the others shrugged.

"This is supposed to be a journey to get you home Tai. You lead us and we will follow," Joe told him, giving up on the crutches and just walking normally, with a bit of a limp. Tai thought about asking if he led them off a cliff would they follow, but he decided against it as the group he had been watching stood up to leave.

"Darn, I need to talk to them!" he muttered under his breath as he saw that they were traveling faster than his little group. "KARI!" He yelled this without warning and Izzy almost tipped his wheelchair over in shock.

"Give us a little warning next time, would you Tai?" he muttered sourly before looking towards the group they had been heading for. The youngest, a girl of around sixteen years of age, turned her head at Tai's call. The group had stopped walking away from them and instead had begun to come towards them.

"Who are these people anyway?" Mimi asked the chocolate-eyed nineteen year old, staring at the oddly-aged group coming towards them. She was wondering why the people were all together, and why they would all come when Tai had only called one name. In fact, even Kari was wondering why she was going towards some stranger that had called her name.

"Kari, why are we even bothering to go to these people? We don't know them and they only look like more ex-soldiers," Matt asked, walking behind the teenager with his fiancée, "What if we end up finding things out that we don't want to know?" The girl turned and let her ruby eyes shine in the sunlight for a moment before answering.

"Because something tells me that these people know something that we want to know. And we can't even see their faces because of their hats," it was true; the people who had called out to them were all wearing hats of some sort, except for the woman with pink hair that was walking beside a tall man carrying crutches. The only other thing that they could tell about them was that one of the guys was in a wheelchair.

"But what could they know?" Jun asked, "I mean, I think that I know that young woman. She was a nurse in the same hospital as me, in Imbros. He name was… Mimi I think. All I know is that she kept on getting in trouble for staying with three of her patients more than her others. She would just argue that they were in the most critical condition and that she wanted them to survive. In the end, they had to agree with her. If I remember correctly one of her patients had been paralyzed, another was on crutches and extremely sick, whilst the third one was almost dead for a while… in fact one of the other nurses had left him for dead, but Mimi managed to nurse him back to health. I'd say that those three where the people that she helped. I never caught their names though, the entire time I was there." By now they were close enough to hear what the others were saying.

"Joe, I've told you a million times not to say that!" the guy without the crutches or wheelchair exclaimed, his cheeks turning red, "Why won't you listen to me?"

"Tai, I'll take you seriously when pigs fly. Until then I will try to ignore all of the advice you give me," Kari stopped in her tracks, but the three men did not notice.

"Aw shucks Joe, and after I saved your life too. You should be thanking me, not teasing me," Tai finally turned around again to see Kari, T.K, Matt and Sora staring at him, "Uh, hi guys. Long time no see." Sora's eyes were almost as wide as dinner plates at the sight of her 'dead' best friend.

"B-but you-you didn't come back and… and…" she gave up trying to finish her sentence. Kari suddenly flung herself at her brother, happy tears coursing down her cheeks.

"Ouch Kari… do you mind letting me breath?" he ignored the slight pain in his side, too happy to see his little sister to care.

"Tai, you're back! I'm so happy that you're back!" that caused a huge reunion to occur between Tai, Sora, Kari, T.K and Matt. Jun, Joe, Mimi and Izzy hung in the background, waiting to be properly introduced. They couldn't help but smile at the reunion that was going on in front of them though. It was all just too happy to be true. When all of the excitement had died down a little, the introductions began.

"Guys, this guy here in the wheelchair is Izzy, and the one carrying the crutches is Joe. I'm sure I mentioned them somewhere in my letters. Anyway, the blob of pink hair belongs to Mimi, the person who nursed us all back to perfect health and also Joe's girlfriend," Mimi blushed a little at Tai's comment.

"Well, you're not in _perfect_ health yet Tai. Remember your arm? You didn't forget about it again did you?" she was back to being 'Nurse Mimi.' Tai looked around a little nervously.

"Well… yeah. But I swear that I didn't move it this time!" he protested, receiving strange looks from the others. Mimi just laughed.

"That's okay, I mean, it's not my arm anyway," Tai stuck his tongue out at her in reply before turning his attention back to his other friends, "Now, that's these three introduced. I'm sorry, but I don't really know who you are. My esteemed sister and co. have not introduced you yet." He had noticed Jun standing pretty close to Matt, but he had no idea what had happened.

"Oh, sorry, I guess we just couldn't believe that you were back. This is Jun, my fiancée," Matt introduced her and Tai grinned and held out his left and.

"It's nice to meet you Jun. I'd offer you my right hand, but I'm under orders not to move it," they shook hands and then everyone knew each other. Sora decided to get to the story behind Tai's lack of communication.

"Tai, why didn't you write in the… one and a half years since your last letter?" she demanded, her crimson eyes flaring with both sadness and happiness at the same time.

"Well… you see… I was injured. I couldn't move my right arm. As I write with my right hand, I couldn't write to you. Joe wasn't in any fit state to write for me, and neither was Izzy really. Mimi was busy and so… I just didn't write. I was planning on teaching myself to write left-handed, but it never worked."

"How did you get injured?" T.K asked, for some reason finding the story interesting. Matt hadn't been injured in the war and T.K found that a bit boring. Now he had a good story to hear, and he didn't want to miss out.

"Well, I'll tell you once we get to my house. It's not really a story if you hear it standing in a park. Come on let's go…" and they all turned and left the park, together…

**_To be continued…_**

End of Chapter 2

Litanya: There, that's the second chapter of this fic. Please review. The third and final chapter will come out soon. See you later!


	3. Their Story

Litanya: I do not own digimon, but I do own this plot. Please note that basically none of this fic contains any true events. This fic is fiction and none of the battles described actually happened. Please enjoy.

**_Wars of the Heart_**

****

**_Chapter 3_**

_They say_

_That I should learn to kill before I can feel safe_

_But I_

_I'd rather kill myself than turn into their slave…_

_                                      -- The Rasmus 'In the Shadows'_

They arrived at Tai's apartment after only a small problem. Izzy's wheelchair had been difficult to get up the stairs, so Matt had offered to carry the boy upstairs whilst the others dragged the chair up. Izzy had apologised a million times, but the others did not mind. They knew that it was not the intelligent boy's fault that he was in the wheelchair.

"So Tai, what's your story?" Matt asked once they were all settled. Kari and Tai's parents would not be home for a few hours, so they had the apartment to themselves for a while.

"Well… I'll tell you all that I remember. These guys can help me if my memory fails," he gestured to Joe, Izzy and Mimi who nodded and let him begin his tale…

_FLASHBACK_

_Tai sat on the ship, bored out of his mind. There was no one on board that he knew and everyone else seemed to be a lot older than him. After all, he was only sixteen and most of the others were over twenty. He was about to give up searching for someone to talk to when two people caught his eye. They were around his age and for some reason they looked interesting to talk to. He stood and stretched before walking around to where the two boys were sitting quietly._

_"Hi, my name is Tai. You guys look just about as bored as I feel," he introduced himself and the other two looked up and smiled, obviously glad that someone had poked them out of their boredom._

_"My name is Joe, and this is Izzy. It's nice to meet you," the taller boy of the two introduced, being extremely polite. They began to talk of their homes and anything that really came into their minds. They became friends fast, noticing that they all had things in common…_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"And so we became friends…" Tai was interrupted by T.K.

"But you guys don't really look like you are alike in any way. I mean, you are even different ages," T.K had been watching them closely during the story so far and he couldn't see anything that they had in common.

"Yeah, we are all twenty one, right?"

"Actually… I'm a year younger. I just lied because I didn't want to seem too young. But that doesn't really matter…" Tai rushed on, cursing T.K for opening his mouth, "But now onto the rest of the story otherwise we'll be here until midnight…"

_FLASHBACK_

_They arrived in __Egypt__ firm friends._

_"Hey Joe where are you staying?" Izzy asked his friend as they read through the list which told them where to go._

_"That way," Joe pointed to his left._

_"Me too."_

_"Same here."_

_"Cool!" all three exclaimed, glad that they were not going to be split up._

_"Let's go and put our stuff down before we explore the city!" Tai was eager to be going. He felt revitalized now that he wasn't on the ship._

_"Sure, I guess I can't complain with that idea," they quickly went to their camp and dumped their small amount of baggage…_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"What was Egypt like?" Kari had always wanted to travel. Even though it technically took months to get to Europe, she had often dreamed of visiting those countries.

"It wasn't all that great really, and telling you about it now would be a waste of time. I'll tell you later, okay?" Kari nodded at her brother's promise. As long as she heard about it sometime, she didn't mind.

"Yeah, if you ever go to Egypt, you'll probably hear stories of the Australian soldiers over there… and they aren't very flattering stories either," Izzy added.

"Yeah, I heard some of those stories when I was there… you weren't involved in any of that were you Tai? I know you and it sounds like what you might have done," Matt waited for an answer.

"Nah, I wasn't involved in that. Joe and Izzy kept me from joining in that… and besides it wasn't really my type of thing," Tai dismissed the subject and went back to his story, "Okay, I'll get to the fighting part now because T.K really wants to hear about it." He took a deep breath and continued…

_FLASHBACK_

_The bangs of gunfire could be heard everywhere. Men lay injured, dying on the ground at the base of the hill, having rolled down when they were hit. It was to this area that Tai's squad was being sent. The scary thing was that the men dying on the ground had only been sent there a few hours before Tai's squad._

_"I think I'm going to be sick guys," it was Joe that had spoken and his face was green, to back up what he had said._

_"Come on Joe, just don't think about it. Think of… daisies inst- Hey, you can't be disgusted! You are going to be a doctor when you get back, so don't get all squeamish now," Tai joked, although he could feel his insides squirming around too._

_"Guys, stop messing around. We're going to need to concentrate now," Izzy warned them. They feel silent and watched as the land came closer._

_"Now!" the whisper sent a chill down the spines of all of the men on the ships. It was their command to begin running up the beach to the secured areas. As far as Tai could see, there were no secure areas. The three friends stood from their crouch and began to run after the others. The results were horrible. Men were falling down all around them and they had no idea how they made it to the base camp. A quarter of their squad had not made it even to there. Most of that quarter was lying on the beach, waiting to die or for the few men that were carrying stretchers to the injured. Not many of them had a chance of survival._

_There was a silence as they arrived at the trenches that were to become their home for the next few months. No one wanted to talk; they did not want to think about the people they left behind._

_"Guys, let's stay here," Tai pointed to an empty spot in the trenches. They agreed silently, and they put the small amount of things they had managed to hold on to down. A few paces away from them were two boys, around the same age as Joe and Izzy._

_"Did you arrive just now?" the leader of the two boys asked, obviously having arrived earlier in the morning._

_"Yeah," there was nothing else to say. Izzy introduced himself and the other two before the strangers introduced themselves._

_"My name is __Davis__ Motimya and this is Ken Ichijouji. We arrived earlier this morning…" they went on to explain what they had found out when they had arrived…_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"Did you say Davis Motimya?" Jun asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he's my little brother. He's about the same age as you… but a little older I think. He went to war about the same time you did. Do you know if he's okay?"

"No, we didn't see him after we were injured," Joe replied, looking a little sad. He had gotten on extremely well with Ken, but sometimes Davis had tried his patience.

"Actually, he came around here after the war. He was the one who gave us Tai's journal. I thought that we told you who had done that," Kari looked thoughtful, remembering that visit with a small shudder, "I didn't know that he was your brother though. He was a little injured, but not much from what I could tell. Ken was on crutches, but Davis seemed fine other than a small limp."

"Oh, thank God! I haven't heard from him in a while. I was starting to get worried," Jun looked very relieved, as did Tai, Izzy and Joe. Ken and Davis had been their close friends after all.

"Isn't it funny how everyone seems to be connected," Sora mused before turning her attention back to Tai, "What happened next?"

"Well, the fighting began. And it continued for weeks. It might be easier for me just to explain what happened on the day that Izzy, Joe and I 'disappeared.' The other details would bore you and they would take me forever to explain," Tai's eyes had a haunted look in them that only appeared when he was talking about fighting in the war, Sora noticed. The fighting must have had a huge toll on him. She stored the thought in the back of her head and listened to the rest of his story.

_FLASHBACK_

_Tai, Izzy and Joe were sitting cramped in one of the trenches, with Ken and Davis keeping them company. It was day time and the rattle of the guns never seemed to stop._

_"What time do you guys have duty?" Ken asked as they cringed at the sound of a small bomb going off._

_"In about two or three minutes. Hopefully they will keep the gas to themselves this time," the last time that they had been on duty the 'enemy' had used guns that poured out poison gas. The results had been horrific, mainly for the ones using the guns. The wind had changed halfway through the small battle and the gas had been blown back onto the ones firing it. Many had died needlessly that day._

_"Ken and I have late duty. We're supposed to be getting leave tomorrow for about two weeks, but I bet it won't happen. You're lucky that you're on duty when you are; it's no fun fighting at night."_

_"It's not fun fighting at any time of the day. It isn't fair to anyone. If only the bloody governments would get their act together then we wouldn't need to fight at all!" to say that Joe was angry would have been an understatement. He wanted to save people's lives, not destroy them._

_"Come on guys, we'd better go. We'll see you later Davis, Ken. Have fun on leave if we don't see you by then," Tai, Izzy and Joe grabbed the machine guns they were forced to have on them at all times and stood. They made their way through the maze of the back trenches until they were finally at their post._

_"You three, over here!" they obeyed the command, knowing that they would be in a position worse than death if they did not, "You're going over today. Join in the last row formed." Tai closed his eyes and began to move in the direction pointed out. Izzy bit his lip and Joe looked ready to faint. The phrase at Gallipoli that everyone feared to hear was 'You're going over today.' It had finally happened to them. Before they had always fought from the trenches, but now they were going to be fighting on the ground in between their trench and those of the 'enemy.'_

_"Good luck guys. We're all going to need it," Tai whispered to Izzy and Joe as he took his place in the line._

_"You too," was the whispered reply that he received from both of them. There was a small signal at the front of the column of soldiers. It was the sign that the front row had to go over. There was a collective intake of breaths before the first row threw themselves over the top of the trench. Immediate gunfire was the reply. There were screams and cries of pain. One man fell straight back over the side of the trench as soon as he had gotten up. The second row went over at the next signal. It kept on going until finally Tai's row was at the front. The signal fell and they charged over the side of the trench._

_There was a volley of bullets aimed at them as soon as they were over the side. Izzy, Tai and Joe fought together, trying to aim their shots at the guns rather than at the people firing them. Tai was the first to get hit, but it was only a deflected bullet. It hit his leg, but the force was not enough to drive it very far and the result was that the bullet fell out, leaving only a small mark. All around them men were falling, crying out with pain and dying. It was a sight that they never wanted to see ever again._

_"Izzy, watch out!" Joe dived and saved the boy from getting a bullet in his head. Then the two climbed back up and made their way again, with only a small "thank you" from Izzy. After all, they did not have much time to do anything else. They continued on their way and soon they had managed to get halfway across the ground they needed to cover. Unfortunately, they were only three among a group of about seven. That meant that there were more bullets headed for them._

_"S!" Joe cried as a bullet pierced through his leg. Tai and Izzy rushed over to see if they could help. Joe was on the ground, his leg having collapsed. Tai turned around so that Izzy could help Joe and not be threatened by bullets. Or at least he tried to keep them safe. He shot at whatever gun seemed to point their way, but in the end he could not stop the inevitable. A bullet pierced into his side, causing him to fall to the ground to. A second later, Izzy was shot in the back, literally. It seemed like they were going to die there, as there was no one left to help them._

_"Izzy, Joe, are you guys okay?" Tai tried to keep his fears away by thinking of something else, but it did not work._

_"I think so. It's only my leg that is screwed," Joe answered, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. He had already vomited after seeing his leg and he knew that they were in trouble if they did not move quickly._

_"I-I'm okay I think. I can't move my legs though. From the sounds of what happened, the base of my spine has broken," Izzy too knew of their great peril. Their lives hung on the line and yet they could not do anything. They were all injured and in the middle of a battlefield, where no one could help them, "What about you Tai?"_

_"Me? I'll be perfectly fine," his vision blurred for a second and he was scared. The thought suddenly came to him that he didn't want to die on a battle field because he had given up, "Do either of you think that you'll be able to move? We need to get out of here if we're going to live."_

_"I think I might be able to crawl somewhere," Joe sounded doubtful, but Tai's attitude was contagious. He refused to even think of the possibility of dying without a fight, "What about you Izzy?"_

_"If someone could drag me along somehow, I might be able to. My legs won't move, so I won't be able to crawl by myself."_

_"That's okay Izzy, I'll help you," Tai pushed himself around until he was lying on his stomach. His side was killing, but he ignored the pain. He grabbed Izzy's arm and began to pull, trying to find a way that they could get somewhere that could help them. Joe grabbed Izzy's other arm and the two of them pulled the disabled boy across the ground. They did not head back to their own trenches or to the ones the 'enemy' had. Instead they were heading in the direction that Tai thought he had seen a hospital in. One of the people in the 'enemy' trenches had seen them begin to move. Tai was the closest to 'enemy' lines, and his right arm was pierced with a bullet. He automatically dropped Izzy's hand, as it had been his right arm he had been dragging the boy by. But instead of giving in to the pain in his arm and his side, he just used his other arm to drag Izzy by._

_"Tai, are you alright?" Izzy asked, having seen the bullet hit the boy. Tai did not reply and continued to drag him along. They did not know how long they had been going, but finally they could not move any more._

_"How far are we away from help?" Joe asked drowsily, feeling very, very tired._

_"I'm not too sure," Tai admitted, "But it's too far away, wherever it is…" he closed his eyes and felt himself drift away somewhere. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder._

_"Come on Tai, don't fall asleep. We can still make it to help," Izzy could see that Tai had lost a lot of blood, more than both Izzy and Joe had combined. He was scared that if Tai went to sleep, he would never wake up again._

_"But I'm so tired…" but he opened his eyes again, seeing the blurry word that had quickly become his reality once more._

_"It's okay, we're almost there. I can see lights up ahead," Izzy lied, somehow knowing that Tai would believe him. Without another word Tai grabbed Izzy's arm again and Joe grabbed the other. They slowly began moving again until finally even the excess energy they had obtained from the hope of being close to help ran out. They now had no energy left at all, and night was falling quickly._

_"I'm sorry… I need to sleep now," Tai mumbled and he closed his eyes…_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"And that's basically all I remember until I woke up in the hospital," there was a stunned silence. Tai's story had enraptured his audience and they had had no idea that they had gone through all of that just to survive.

"I remember more. Once Tai fell asleep, Joe fell silent and I wasn't sure if he was sleeping, dead or just not talkative. About a few minutes later, I heard some footsteps and then a couple of voices. I'm still not sure who they were, but someone came and rescued us," Izzy added, breaking the silence.

"That was a stretcher crew from another squad. I remember that they told the nurses on the ship to Imbros from the battlefields that they had found the three of you on the beach somewhere. They had almost left Tai there because they had thought that he was dead, then they realised that he was still breathing. That was very lucky," Mimi piped up, finishing the story off, "And then Joe got sick with typhoid fever and Tai just stayed unconscious for a while and Izzy was worried sick about them… and then they got better and here they are!" It was a rather quick end to the story, but it was good enough.

"Whoa, that is a very scary story. How did you manage to do all of that?" T.K had been expecting an extraordinary tale of survival, but even his imagination had not thought of such an escape.

"I don't know. I guess that I just wanted to get home," Tai shrugged with his left shoulder only, making sure to keep his right one still.

"I'm sorry Tai. I shouldn't have let you go in my place."

"Don't be silly Matt; I made it back in one piece, right? And it ended up working out for everyone. Besides, I'd never have made friends with Joe, Izzy and Mimi if I had stayed here and the pair of them may have died. I'm actually happy with the way that everything turned out," Tai did not seem all that concerned with his situation and he grinned at Izzy and Joe.

"Umm… we'd better go now Tai. We'd better go and see our parents. We'll see you later next week, okay?" Joe stood up with Mimi and the pair of them, along with Izzy, left after saying their goodbyes. Then Tai was left with his old friends and Jun. Matt looked from Tai to Sora to Jun.

"We'd better go too. I promised my father that I would help him cook dinner. T.K is eating with us tonight, so he'd better come too," Matt, Jun and T.K left, leaving Kari and Sora alone with Tai.

"Uh… Mum told me to wash the dishes. You guys stay here and I'll go do it before she gets back and yells," Kari lied before she disappeared into the kitchen. Now Sora and Tai were alone. There was a small silence.

"I read your letter," Sora finally broke the silence, partly nervous at what she was going to say and what his reaction would be.

"Yeah, I thought that you would have read it. I meant every word in it you know," it almost felt like he was meeting her again for the first time. Almost. His heart was jumping in his chest, overwhelmed at seeing her again. Whilst he had been dying it had been thoughts of Sora that had kept him alive, not thoughts of getting home. He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her, and it had been that desire that had kept him alive.

"I know," the gap between them was growing smaller as they both took a step forward.

"I'm sorry that you and Matt broke up by the way."

"No you're not," it was the truth, after all. They were finally close enough that they could feel the other's breath softly on their cheek, "And neither am I." The kiss was hesitant at first, but then they forgot about everything else and lost themselves in each other.

"Never go away again," Sora whispered after they had broken off the kiss.

"There's no chance of that happening, ever," he whispered back and they kissed again, completely in their own world. And at the doorway Kari was peering around into the room.

"Maybe this war had a good side to it after all," she whispered to herself before she crept quietly to her own room, leaving the two lovers in peace…

Litanya: Okay, that was the conclusion to this fic! I hope that you enjoyed it. I don't think that it was one of my best works, but still, it was satisfactory. Please drop a review if you wish and I'll see you around. Bye!


End file.
